LIDL’S BACKING BRITAIN

BY RUKI SAYID DISCOUNTER Lidl is giving Britain’s farmers and businesses a £15billion boost over the next five years.

Its record-breaking investment aims to increase sales of homegrown fruit and veg and British meat by 10 per cent in the next 12 months.

The announcement, marking the chain’s 25th anniversary, is a welcome tonic for the UK food industry as it comes amid Brexit uncertainty.

And the chain is continuing to expand with up to 60 new stores to open by the end of the year, while a £70million down 43.7 at ITV Kingfisher Land Securities Legal & General Lloyds Marks & Spencer Morrison National Grid Next Ocado Pearson Prudential Reckitt Benckiser RELX Rentokil Initial Rio Tinto Rolls-Royce Royal Dutch Shell B Royal Mail RSA RBS J Sainsbury SSE Severn Trent Serco Sports Direct Smith & Nephew Smiths WH Stagecoach distribution centre opened in Motherwell days ago.

Lidl’s chief commercial officer Ryan McDonnell said: “As our business continues to grow, it’s vital that our suppliers remain at the heart of our growth plans. Our business is only ever as good as our suppliers, so our investments and commitments are key to ensuring that they can invest and expand with us.”

Figures from market analysts Kantar revealed sales at the chain soared by 8.2 per cent in the last 12 weeks, ahead of rival Aldi which was up by 7.3 per cent, while Tesco was down by 0.2 per cent. 7167.9 133.7 -0.9 218.4 -3.2 950.2 +4.2 267.7 -0.1 61.0 +0.2 199.7 +2.9 202.3 -2.3 895.3 +1.8 6652.0 -148.0 1350.5 -13.0 680.2 -10.8 1459.5 -16.5 5993.0 +53.0 1795.5 +23.0 442.2 -7.8 3952.0 -67.0 741.8 -4.4 2232.5 -23.0 216.7 +0.3 517.0 -7.2 229.7 +3.6 214.9 -1.5 1305.5 -8.5 2297.0 +44.0 153.3 -1.4 312.6 -5.2 1830.5 -4.0 2088.0 -42.0 148.2 +1.7 Oil = $59.67 Standard Chartered Standard Life Aberdeen TalkTalk Taylor Wimpey Tesco Unilever United Utilities Vodafone Reach PLC 658.4 285.3 112.9 164.0 243.3 4608.5 890.0 160.6 98.0 -4.2 -3.9 +0.4 -2.7 -0.9 +40.0 +24.6 -1.2 -2.4